Cake and Bread

Make no mistake. The cakes are the best part. That’s not to take anything away from salads and sandwiches served at Newk’s Express Grill. But don’t miss the cakes.

Newk’s is the newest fast casual restaurant concept to enter Huntsville. It is a sort of upscale deli conceived by the original founders of McAlister’s Deli. It was born in Oxford, Miss., by entrepreneur Chris Newcomb after he sold the McAlister chain. The Huntsville Newk’s is a franchise owned by two Tuscaloosa businessmen, Joel Brumfield and Warner Johnson.

The setup is simple, although the restaurant is vast. Queue up at one of three registers and order from a menu on the wall and specials posted on the counter. Get a printed menu first and study it well. This could be a difficult decision.

Salads are very fresh, and you can watch them tossed as you wait. They are also huge. Those with meats range from $6.55 for the Southern with a scoop of chicken salad to $7.95 for Newk’s favorite with chicken and gorgonzola cheese, the ultimate with chicken, ham, turkey and bacon or the black and bleu with grilled steak.

A half salad, served with half sandwich for $6.95, is plenty of greens for a normal human being. Customers can have soup with a half salad or half sandwich for the same price, and the soup du jour might be broccoli cheese, lobster-crab bisque or chicken and rice.

The fresh bread makes sandwiches a delight, whether made with the zesty pimiento cheese or chicken salad with grapes and pecans. The Newk’s “Q” is an especially good sandwich of chicken breast and white barbecue sauce.

Newk’s also serves specialty pizzas – a variety of ingredients on a 10-inch thin crust. They range in price from $6.25 for a vegetarian Margarita to $8.95 for spicy shrimp.

The menu specifically calls this a place “serving fresh tossed salads, oven baked sandwiches, California-style pizzas and homemade cakes.” That last item will keep folks coming back at all hours.

How about an afternoon snack? Try a slice of strawberry cake. Dessert? Caramel cake. Something to make you feel healthy? Carrot cake. These are light, moist, fluffy layer cakes. They are a specialty at Newk’s.

The restaurant is in the old Jade Palace building on University Drive just west of Wynn Drive.

By: Mike Kaylor

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Some said that healthy bread combines best taste and textures. So, If you tough cake is better, it`s all your decision.

Tags: cake, salad

  Sep 18 cake